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Egyptian Antiquities :
Egyptian Ushabtis : Faience Ushabti of the 26th Dynasty
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Faience Ushabti of the 26th Dynasty - PF.0488
Origin: Egypt
Circa: 664
BC
to 580
BC
Dimensions:
5" (12.7cm) high
x 1.375" (3.5cm) wide
Collection: Egyptian
Medium: Faience
Additional Information: SOLD
$2,800.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
With a flowing striated headdress and
rectangular beard, the ushabti is made
in the form of a mummy. Its legs are a
single unit, the arms vertical with the
hands exposed appearing as if crossed.
The effect is as if the figure is
tightly wrapped in cloth, holding a hoe
in each hand pressed tightly against its
sides. The face is very nicely modeled
with expressive eyes and a delightful
smile on the lips. Ushabti, or the
“answerer,” were interred with the dead
to serve as surrogate “workers” for the
deceased in the afterlife. In the New
Kingdom, numerous ushabti were part of
the funerary accouterments made to
function as slaves. The fine quality of
this ushabti, and the fact it is made of
costly faience, indicates its original
owner was someone of wealth.
Perhaps no single object epitomizes the
spirit of ancient Egypt better than the
ushabti. Shaped like a divine mummy, the
ushabti evokes the
magical side of Egyptian belief in an
afterlife, while the two hoes clutched
in the hands and the basket carried on
the back recall the rural, agrarian
culture of the land. The word ushabti
(supplanting the older term shawabti)
literally means "the answerer". The
function of these little figures is
described in Chapter VI of the Book of
the Dead: "0 this Ushabti! If (the
deceased) is called upon to do hard
labor in the hereafter, say thou: I am
here." The ushabti was expected to
answer the call to work in place of the
deceased, and this passage was
frequently inscribed on the figures
themselves. Originally, a single usabti
was placed in any given tomb, but by the
New Kingdom the statues had come to be
regarded as servants and slaves for the
deceased rather than as a substitute,
and many might be found buried together,
along with an overseer figure. In the
course of Egyptian history, ushabti were
created from wood, stone, metal and
faience. In the cultural renaissance of
the XXVIth Dynasty (Saite period), a
green faience the color of the Nile and
evocative of the verdant landscape in
springtime was particularly popular. To
look upon an ushabti is to come face to
face with the mystery and magic of Egypt
itself.
- (PF.0488)
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